An American staff member of the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi has died following fierce clashes at the compound, Libyan security sources said on Wednesday.

"One American staff member has died and a number have been injured in the clashes," Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee, said, adding that he did not know the exact number of injured and could not say what the cause of death was.

An armed mob protesting over a film they said offended Islam, attacked the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday and set fire to the building, witnesses reported.

The attack happened on the same day as a similar group of hardliners waving black banners attacked the US embassy in Cairo and tore down the US flag, but it was not immediately clear if the two incidents were coordinated.

The protests came on the eleventh anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, when US cities were targeted by hijacked planes.

"Demonstrators attacked the US consulate in Benghazi. They fired shots in the air before entering the building," Libya's deputy interior minister, Wanis al-Sharif Sharif, who is in charge of the country's eastern region, told AFP.

"Dozens of demonstrators attacked the consulate and set fire to it," said a Benghazi resident, who only gave his name as Omar, adding that he had seen the flames and heard shots in the vicinity.

Contacted by AFP, a US State Department official in Washington said US officials were still seeking information about the situation in Benghazi.

Asked whether the attack in Libya and the earlier demonstration against the US mission in Egypt could be connected, the official said it was unclear yet if the protests had been coordinated.

Another Libyan witness said armed men had closed the streets leading up to the consulate, among them ultra-conservative Salafists.

The Libyan incident came as thousands of Egyptian demonstrators tore down the Stars and Stripes at the US embassy in Cairo and replaced it with a black Islamic flag, similar to one adopted by several militant groups.

Nearly 3,000 demonstrators gathered at the embassy in protest over a film deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed which was produced by expatriate members of Egypt's Christian minority resident in the United States.

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198

Alan Beasley

12-09-2012 07:20pm

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As we saw through the 1990s - Op-ed just 2 weeks ago...

Really President Clinton - squandered your surplus?
Or did President Bush step up?
I was struck by the selective memory of President Clinton during his speech at the 2012 DNC.
I did not expect him to say that he inherited a booming economy adding a million new jobs every 3 – 4 months; adding 3 million in 1993, 6.6 million by Dec 1994, and 8.8 million by Dec 1995.
I did not expect President Clinton to say that after he left the White House - the U.S. lost jobs 11 out of the next 12 months, and 20 of the next 24 months; 1 million prior to the attacks of September 11th. And that is what created a huge 2.3 million job deficit at the very start of the next presidential term.
I did not think President Clinton would give the Bush Administration any credit at all.
I did not expect President Clinton to say President Bush was handed a country in recession, an office tarnished by impeachment, and a nation of Americans frustrated with a decade of terrori

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197

tim

12-09-2012 03:14pm

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where's the video?

I want to see for myself what precipated the actions of these people. Why can't I find the video for viewing on the internet?

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196

WO3 (Ret.)

12-09-2012 01:14pm

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WTF IS THIS IDIOT DOING?

Is there no garrison of Marines at the embassies anymore? Scaling the walls and tearing down the US Flag is not lawlessness it's an act of war. We have become geldings in the international community beholding and in debt to our enemies
Were I in the foreign services my arse would be on the next plane home before this jackass gets me killed.
You fools that are enamored with your "dear leader " are being lead into slavery.

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195

Karim

12-09-2012 01:07pm

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Gaddafi Loyalist or Assad`s indoctrinated group

This act of Terror is either done by Gaddafi Loyalist or Assad`s spy`s. Period. Assad has his own Al Qaida branch operating in as agent provocateurs. This Terror and the Terror in Turkey are coordinated attacks.

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Karim

12-09-2012 03:11pm

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Apology

I must correct myself. This is just another "foreseeable future" attack by the zionist. Please check out the youtube documentary of jeff gates. It`s called criminal state.

194

Dominic defrank

12-09-2012 12:56pm

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Arab spring ???????

It was the ambassador to Libya that was killed. !!!!!

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Mark

12-09-2012 01:18pm

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Private

My independent sources indicate it was the US Ambassador killed. The Diplomatic community is in shock....

193

2ndprotectsall

12-09-2012 12:44pm

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History repeats itself

This is Carter and Iran all over again.

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192

False Hope

12-09-2012 12:27pm

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We're Sorry!

Obozo is the most inept POTUS we have seen in modern history. This clown will apologize to every fanatic who only cares in Americas downfall!!

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191

Retired vet

12-09-2012 12:16pm

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Retired vet who has had it with this shit and this President

Attacking a consulate is an act of war. Pull the rest of the staff and get out the nuclear tomahawks and turn Egypt into a large mass of radioactive glass.....
If the President will not protect this nation impeach the sorry jackass and deport him to Egypt....
If the Congress will not impeach we can fix that for half of them in November.

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190

ANONTDH

12-09-2012 11:49am

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WHY BLAME CHRISTIANITY?

WHY BLAME CHRISTIANITY
For Irish (Catholic) and British (Protestant) Terrorism?
Individuals, not religions,
carry out inhuman acts.
Islam is a religion of peace, accepted and practiced by more than 1.25 billion people worldwide. It is the fastest-growing religion in the world, and if it was what some critics claim, why should the people from all walks of life from around the world keep embracing Islam?
Where is the sword now?
In Islam, a person has the right to defend himself, his family, his country or his neighbor(s), which justifies the resistance being offered by the people of Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Kashmir and Palestine, to attacks on their soils by the so-called liberators, who are actually the occupiers.
The Holy Qur’an clearly states that if a person saves one life, it’s as if he saved humanity, and if a person kills one human being, it’s as if he killed humanity.
What is happening in the enslaved Muslim countries is a natural reaction to occ

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James W.

12-09-2012 01:37pm

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Oh Please!

I don't believe that you even believe what you just said. Islam is involved in war and conflict around the world. Are you trying to suggest that in each of those cases poor poor muslims are acting in self-defence? Yeah right! Enslaved muslim countries?! The Taliban didn't enslave the people of Afghanistan? Women aren't enslaved by Islam? What happens to people that try to convert to another religion in muslim countries? Are their lives threatened? Religion of peace and tolerance my A$$!

Matthew

12-09-2012 01:27pm

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wtf

What was the 9/11 attack then? How were the muslims that committed the attack "defending" themselves? What is happening in the

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Tomas

12-09-2012 10:55am

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Fools

Remember when Obama and America's main stream media was drunk with emotion over the Arab Spring? Remember the fall of Mubarak, the tears of joy the media tools had while celebrating with the "freedom" loving Egyptians, while hundreds of Muslim men tried to rape Lara Logan to death? Remember the coalition of countries who rallied to the defense of the Libyan (oil) people? Here we are!